A synthesis of the Mineral Resources Program's past and future research directions in the western U.S. on metal contamination due to mineral deposits and mining and the environmental effects on living organisms. Chapters 1, 4, and 6 as PDF files.

Estimates of known and undiscovered copper resources total nearly 60 million metric tons of copper. Iron resources in known deposits total 2200 million metric tons of ore. Twenty mineralized areas meriting further study were identified.

Estimates of uranium resources affected by land withdrawal, effects of previous breccia-pipe mining, water-chemistry data for streams and springs, and potential biological pathways of exposure to uranium and associated contaminants.

Report of research on the Carolina slate belt and gold deposits in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia with geologic mapping, mineralogic, geochemical, and fluid evolution studies, radiogenic dating, and stable isotope studies.